AMARANTA POV
The engine hummed under us, and it did nothing to hide my thundering heartbeat for Garrett.
His hand was on my thigh.
Heavy.
Warm.
Possessive in a way that didn’t ask permission and didn’t need to, fingers flexing every now and then like he was reminding himself I was still there, still real, still within reach, and every time he did it, my body answered before my brain could catch up, a small, involuntary shift, a breath that changed rhythm, something tightening low in my stomach that had nothing to do with fear.
Or maybe it had everything to do with it.
Because the closer we got, the more everything sharpened.
The road.
The trees.
But his touch soothed me, like always. I was almost too calm for what we were driving toward, like my mind still had to process we were
